


Lean On Me

by autumndark



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, High School, M/M, Yukhei harbouring a big fat crush on Mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:05:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14595648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumndark/pseuds/autumndark
Summary: 5 times Mark leans on Yukhei’s shoulder + 1 time Mark returns the favouror, mark keeps gently resting his head on yukhei’s shoulder and it’s killing me softly so i had to write it





	Lean On Me

**Author's Note:**

> i finally wrote a lumark fic from lucas’ pov! the time has come to reveal my mark lee trash side lol. i wrote two fics using the name ‘lucas’ so i decided to try using ‘yukhei’ for once :’)
> 
> also all of lumark’s classmates that are mentioned are their fellow 99liner idols! (some of them even attended SOPA with mark!)

It is probably not a lie to say that Mark Lee and Yukhei Wong are friends. 

_Probably_ , Yukhei thinks.

The pair have been classmates for the past two years, and both of them have gone to the same high school for even longer. They have a lot of mutual friends in common and have hung out together in the same group a bunch of times, however they rarely speak to each other one-on-one. 

So surely, other people would consider them friends.

And Yukhei likes that.

In fact, Yukhei finds himself wanting to be _more than friends_ whenever sweet little Mark Lee looks in his direction and giggles cutely, his small nose scrunching up in delight, and Yukhei has to break eye contact first, his heart rate sky-rocketing at the barest interaction.

Because Mark Lee is popular; he is not only overwhelmingly nice and impressively smart, but somehow also endearingly humble. The Canadian class president is well-liked by everyone and Yukhei is sure that he is not the only one harbouring a crush on the boy.

Now don’t get him wrong, Yukhei himself is fairly popular as well, although it is a different _kind_ of popular. 

He’s on the basketball team so he works out often to maintain his physique, and a lot of people find him attractive because of his looks or his school athlete status. Yukhei’s proud to say that he’s been blessed with a nice face too. 

Added to that, Yukhei has been told that he has a barely-functioning brain-to-mouth filter and he isn’t shy at all to voice his opinion on everything; from classmates, to neighbours, to strangers in the supermarket, Yukhei tends to make friends wherever he goes.

_And yet somehow..._

The idea of approaching Mark Lee and actually getting close to him ( _or even asking him out!_ ) seems so unrealistic and daunting that it has Yukhei flustered and uncharacteristically shy at the thought of casually initiating skinship.

Suffice to say, he hasn’t made much progress with his crush over the year.

Luckily for him, it seems that the universe has decided that it will help him along without waiting for Yukhei to muster up the courage to take the initiative himself.

  
  
  
  


: : : one : : :

  
  
  
  


The weather in Spring has been beautiful all week and today, the sun is shining brightly overhead, warming Yukhei’s skin pleasantly.

It’s the last day of the semester before school holidays start and a large group of their classmates are having a picnic to celebrate, Yukhei and Mark included. 

Nothing particularly unusual happened throughout the outing; most of the girls seemed content to sit on the grass and chat or share pictures whilst the boys (and Yoojung, to no one’s surprise) had started idly kicking around a soccer ball that Park Woojin had brought along, before eventually getting into a overly-competitive match that lasted an hour.

At the end of the day, Yukhei is bending down and tying his shoelace when Yerim pipes up, addressing the group.

“Hey! Before we leave, let’s all take a group photo!” she calls out. 

It takes a while but everyone manages to squeeze into frame for the shot and Yukhei ends up at the end of the line, standing beside Mark.

After a few normal snapshots, Yerim still seems unsatisfied.

“These are cute and all, but let’s do a group pose!” says the girl, fiddling with her camera app and violently glaring down any complaints that arise.

Yukhei must have blanked out because the next thing he registers is Mark shuffling closer to his side and gently resting his head on Yukhei’s right shoulder.

“W-what?” blurts out Yukhei, confusion painted upon his face.

“Is this okay?” asks Mark, glancing up at him curiously.

Taking a moment to look around at everyone else, Yukhei realises that the rest of his classmates are standing in a line with their heads cutely tilted to the side as well.

“Um, yeah.” replies the taller boy, almost shrugging his shoulder before remembering that Mark’s head is there.

“Apparently it’s some kind of trendy pose nowadays,” laughs Mark, turning back to face the front, “at least, according to Mina.”

“Smile!” shouts Yerim suddenly, giving Yukhei less than a second to arrange his features into a smile before a series of shutter sounds ring out.

Photo successfully taken, Mark moves to stand out of Yukhei’s personal space, the slight weight of his head lifting off Yukhei’s shoulder.

“Yukhei!” chides Yerim, walking over to where he and Mark are standing with her phone held in her hand, finger swiping through the photos as she reviews them. “You weren’t paying attention!”

Bending his knees, Yukhei squints down at the little screen. In the first two photos taken, Yukhei is looking at Mark with an embarrassingly besotted expression, before facing the camera with a dazed look in the third picture. Luckily, the last two photos are of him smiling brightly and posing with a peace sign.

“At least these two are okay.” tuts the girl, taking her phone back and pinning Yukhei with a knowing stare, before grinning and tapping at the screen. “I’ll send them to the groupchat.”

  
  
  


Later, when Yukhei checks his notifications, he sees the two photos that Yerim send to their class chatroom and saves them.

Additionally, there is an individual message from the girl that reads ‘I thought you might like these ;)’ with the pictures of him staring fondly at Mark attached.

He saves those too.

  
  
  
  


: : : two : : :

  
  
  
  


On most days, Yukhei takes the bus home from school. 

Mark takes the same bus route as well, Yukhei knows this because the other boy had mentioned it once, however Mark always stays late after class ends every day to deal with student council matters so unfortunately their bus rides don’t match up.

Today, basketball practice had run a lot longer than usual since the team had to wait for the volleyball team to leave first due to a scheduling mix-up, starting later than planned. 

Sitting at the bus stop, Yukhei idly spins a basketball around in his hands as he waits.

“Hi, Yukhei.” 

The unexpected voice startles Yukhei into dropping the ball onto the floor and he watches in silence as Mark Lee bends down to pick it up and sits down to wait next to him.

“Mark! What are you doing here?” exclaims Yukhei, shuffling away from Mark to put a bit more distance between them. “I mean, not that you can’t! But don’t you usually stay late?”

“It is late.” answers Mark simply, tapping his slim fingers on Yukhei’s basketball that is still in the smaller boy’s lap.

“Oh. You’re right!” laughs Yukhei, deep voice resonating loudly in the relatively quiet street.

He is saved from any further awkwardness by the bus conveniently arriving.

  
  
  


The pair end up sitting together after Yukhei follows Mark on board, the younger still carrying Yukhei's basketball in his hands and choosing a seat near the window, clearly intentionally leaving the other seat for Yukhei.

From the handful of times that they have conversed properly, Yukhei knows that he and Mark share the same taste in music. It’s easy to start talking about artists that they each like and Yukhei enjoys watching Mark’s eyes light up with passion as the other talks about his favourite rappers and artists that he admires; his hands waving about in a flurry of enthusiastic gestures.

“Have you heard the new album?” asks Yukhei casually.

Yukhei honestly hadn’t meant anything from that innocent statement but somehow that is how they end up sharing earphones, Mark’s tangled-up pair with too-short wires plugged into Yukhei’s phone. 

“Is this too loud?” says Yukhei with a finger hovering over the volume slider.

“Nah, it’s good!” answers Mark with a smile, although he continues to fidget on Yukhei’s left. He giggles out an explanation when he notices Yukhei staring at him. “I think the wire’s a bit too short though.”

Tucking himself into Yukhei’s side, Mark hooks his chin over the other boy’s left shoulder, solving the problem. 

“That’s better.” sighs Mark, sounding pleased with himself and looking nowhere near as affected by their close proximity as Yukhei feels.

  
  
  


The ride home passes by in the same manner until the bus reaches Mark’s stop.

“Oh, that’s me.” says Mark, unplugging and coiling up his earphones.

Standing up, Mark sets down the basketball that Yukhei had forgotten he had been cradling the whole time, and moves pass Yukhei towards the aisle, stepping over the other boy’s incredibly long legs.

“Thanks for keeping me company, that was nice.” Mark tells him with a sweetly sincere smile on his lips. “I usually ride alone.”

“No problem. I like you- I like your company too.” replies Yukhei, face flushing at his slip-up.

Mark doesn’t seem to have noticed, too busy peering out the window to check if they have arrived. 

As Mark steps off, he sends Yukhei a light wave and chirps “See you tomorrow, Yukhei!”

  
  
  


Yukhei’s left side feels strangely empty for the rest of the ride home.

  
  
  
  


: : : three : : :

  
  
  
  


The classroom is empty save for Yukhei, all of the students busy eating lunch outside or in the cafeteria. 

He had told his friends to go on without him first, opting to finish beating a particularly tricky level on his phone during the game’s bonus time before heading to lunch.

There is a soft knock on the classroom’s door.

“Yukhei?” comes a quiet voice, slipping open the door to reveal Mark.

“Mm?” responds Yukhei, sticking his tongue out and tapping furiously at the screen.

“Oh, you're still playing that.” says Mark, sliding out the chair next to Yukhei and sitting down. 

Mark places the two sandwiches that he had been carrying in his hands on Yukhei’s desk, picking up one of them and unwrapping it slowly. 

“I figured you would be late so I grabbed you one before they sold out of all the nice bread rolls.” Mark explains, leaning back in his seat and peering at Yukhei’s game. 

Tilting the screen so that Mark can see easier, Yukhei keeps swiping his finger across the screen and the game lights up in reds and oranges. Mark assumes that’s a good thing.

Scrunching up his small face in confusion, Mark comments “I see you playing this game all the time. But I don’t really get how it works."

“It’s like a series of quests that you have to complete in different worlds?” offers Yukhei, distracted by the game as Mark nods along hesitantly, “And then you have special boss battles that if you defeat them at certain times, you get bonus coins! See?"

“Ahh, I think so.” responds Mark, frowning at the screen and trying to understand what is happening.

“Watch, watch! He’s almost dead!” says Yukhei excitedly.

Setting down his sandwich, Mark leans his head on Yukhei’s shoulder to watch as he plays. The little green health bar at the bottom of the screen becomes smaller and smaller as a series of numbers appear over the boss’ head.

“See?"

Yukhei’s phone blares out a triumphant song as the word ‘Success’ fills the screen. Mark watches as a tally of statistics show up before the title ‘MVP’ appears.

“Yes!” shouts Yukhei suddenly, pumping his fist in the air and jostling Mark from his perch on the boy’s shoulder. “Oh sorry! Sorry! I didn’t realise!” 

Yukhei apologises instantly, setting down his phone and patting at Mark’s head carefully.

“It’s okay! Really.” giggles Mark, closing his eyes and letting Yukhei fuss over him anyway.

“Ah.” says Yukhei, hands hovering unsurely in the air.

Giggling again, Mark crinkles his nose cutely and pushes the uneaten roll into Yukhei’s hands. “Here, eat.”

  
  
  


The pair eat their lunch in a comfortable silence before Yukhei breaks it.

“Hey Mark,” begins Yukhei, chewing thoughtfully around his bread roll, “do you want me to teach you how to play?”

“Really?” asks Mark, leaning forward interestedly and then shrinking down in his seat. “Oh but I’m not very good at games and electronic stuff.”

“That’s okay! I’m a great teacher. I’ll guide you through each step.” grins Yukhei reassuringly, before puffing out his chest and bumping his fist against it. “Trust me!"

“Ohhh, okay.” says Mark, nodding his head and going along with Yukhei’s flow. “Let’s get it!"

  
  
  


Halfway through helping Mark through his second boss battle, Yukhei remembers that he was supposed to meet his friends in the cafeteria.

It’s okay though, they probably realised soon enough that he wasn’t coming and didn’t wait up. 

_Besides, he has more important things to deal with right now..._

“Ah! I did it! I beat the dragon!” says Mark proudly, smiling gleefully across at Yukhei and showing him the screen.

“Good job! I knew you could do it.” praises Yukhei, returning the smile. "I’ll teach you how to defeat the evil king next."

_…like helping Mark Lee save a video-game world._

  
  
  
  


: : : four : : :

  
  
  
  


Graduation is coming up soon and all the final year students are getting their photos professionally taken by the school.

Somehow, Mark and Yukhei are next to each other in line (something about being listed according to the foreign students line-up, or something, Yukhei doesn’t really understand) and the entire process is taking ages.

The metal chairs that the school has provided to wait on are kind of uncomfortable but Yukhei is ignoring it for now in favour of concentrating on his game. Beside him, Mark is staring at the wall opposite them and yawning periodically, eyes blinking rapidly as he fights to keep them open.

“Do you have a lot of stuff you need to do as class president?” murmurs Yukhei, looking up from his phone to check on Mark.

“Sort of.” replies Mark, shaking himself awake. “It’s kinda the same as always except I gotta study for exams as well. That’s all.”

Humming in acknowledgement, Yukhei questions “Are you tired?”

“Not really.” replies Mark.

Yukhei stares at him wordlessly and he changes his answer.

“Honestly, yeah.” amends Mark, staving off another yawn. “A little bit. It’s not that bad."

Setting his phone down in his lap, Yukhei tells Mark to take a nap. 

“I’ll wake you up when it’s our turn.” says Yukhei, patting his shoulder in offering.

Mark looks like he’s going to refuse but his eyelids refuse to co-operate, shutting close heavily as his body betrays him.

Raising both his eyebrows in an appealing manner, Yukhei pat his shoulder again. 

“Alright, you’ll wake me up when it’s time?” confirms Mark, settling his head on Yukhei’s side and making himself comfortable.

“Of course!” says Yukhei reassuringly in a probably too-loud voice considering that Mark’s ear is right next to his mouth.

“Okay Yukhei, I trust you.” mumbles Mark, already starting to nod off.

  
  
  


It takes another half hour for the photographers to be ready for them. In the meantime, Yukhei had held himself stiffly as he played to make sure that he wouldn’t disturb Mark in his sleep and wake him up.

His neck is a bit stiff and he had missed a couple of combos during bonus time but it’s alright because the bags under Mark’s eyes seems a little less heavy when Yukhei nudges him awake when it’s his turn.

  
  
  
  


: : : five : : :

  
  
  
  


After finally becoming old enough to drink legally but before studying for final exams becomes their daily life, Yukhei and Mark’s classmates decide to head out for a dinner celebration.

Apparently there’s a meat buffet special at the nearby barbecue restaurant, according to Kangmin, so they all gather there on a Friday night.

Like all curious teenagers, Yukhei has tried alcohol before (and recoiled at the taste in disgust but tried to play it off cool) but he has never had the chance to drink more than half a glass and he’s curious to find out how he behaves when he’s drunk.

They had all had to flash their IDs when they’d first ordered and the first round of drinks arrive just in time for dinner, the strips of meat sizzling invitingly on the hot grill pan.

Taking his first sip, Yukhei confirms that the taste of liquor is still unappealing but not quite as harsh as he had remembered. He finishes his first cup without feeling any different, perhaps a little bit more talkative but that might just be the good company and good food.

Looking over to the end of the table, Yukhei sees that Mark seems mostly unaffected as well, although he is giggling a lot. The same cannot be said for Park Jihoon however, who is seated beside Yukhei and is flushing red at an alarmingly quick rate.

  
  
  


Dinner passes by with a lot of shouting and yelling over each other as everyone becomes progressively more tipsy and more excited. 

Yukhei learns that he evidently has a pretty high alcohol tolerance because he feels perfectly fine even after finishing one bottle on his own. 

He feels pleasantly full from all the delicious food and leans back in blissful happiness, content to watch his friends struggle to hold their alcohol. Mark notices and stumbles over, occupying Jihoon’s empty seat after the other had urgently dragged Woojin out for some fresh air.

“Hey, you seem fine. How come you seem fine.” slurs out the slighter boy, propping his elbow on the table and resting his head in his palm. 

“I guess I don’t need alcohol to get drunk on life! Eyy!” shouts Yukhei, lifting his half-empty glass in a cheers to Mark and pulling a weird face. It’s hard to tell if he’s drunk or not because it falls under normal Yukhei behaviour.

“That’s not fair.” whines Mark cutely, rubbing his face with his free hand not currently occupied by his own head. “My mouth feels fluffy and my head feels like it weighs a tonne. It feels so heavy, Yukhei.”

Mark is always endearing but drunk Mark is particularly adorable. Yukhei mimics Mark’s pose and leans in close to smile at him, fondness dripping from his gaze. 

“I think my head is 15kg now. I can’t hold it up anymore.” complains the boy, struggling to physically lift his head with his hand before giving up and dropping his forehead on Yukhei’s shoulder.

Chuckling, Yukhei pats Mark’s thigh with his hand and replies “I don’t think so? Your head feels the same as always.”

“Does it? I don’t know, I feel like it’s so much heavier than usual. Like, I dunno.” comments Mark softly, twisting so that his cheek is leaning on Yukhei’s shoulder rather than his forehead and making himself comfortable. “You sure?"

“I’m sure!” laughs Yukhei, squeezing Mark’s thigh once before letting go. “You don’t believe me?”

Humming contemplatively, Mark groans and settles on pouting. “I guess you would know.”

“That’s right.” replies Yukhei, a widely smug grin stretching across his handsome face. “I do know, and I’m telling you, your head doesn’t feel any heavier than usual!”

_But even if it did, I wouldn’t complain._

  
  
  
  


: : : bonus : : :

  
  
  
  


 

Being so tall comes with a lot of advantages; Yukhei can reach the top shelf without needing to use a step-stool, it’s great for playing basketball, and it also makes him look good. 

But it does bring a few disadvantages, one of them being that he has to remember to bend down around especially short ceilings and doorways.

And Yukhei doesn’t always remember.

  
  
  


Yukhei had asked Mark to meet him in the school’s library in the early morning before classes start to help him speed-study for a science quiz he had forgotten was happening today.

The library is a separate building from the rest of the main school building and it has shorter doorframes that are sort of cute but also very painful to bump your head into.

Yukhei knows from personal experience.

Today, his thoughts had been occupied with wondering if this counted as a date, or a study date, or a study session with Mark, and his chemistry test as an afterthought that he had not been thinking about the library and its tiny doorways.

They really are very painful to walk into.

  
  
  


Groaning, Yukhei opens his eyes to the library’s harsh fluorescent lights and odd hanging displays that drape down from the low ceiling. 

He’s lying on the floor and his head is resting on some sort of pillow.

His forehead really hurts, Yukhei hopes it won’t leave a red mark that he’ll have to walk around with for the rest of today.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” says Mark, his pretty face coming into Yukhei’s field of vision. He chuckles nervously, “I was starting to get worried.”

Surging upright, Yukhei realises that he had been lying with his head cradled in Mark’s lap that he had mistaken for a pillow. 

“Wait, you shouldn’t get up right away.” says Mark sternly, grabbing Yukhei by the shoulders and pulling him back down. Yukhei can’t really argue when black spots are decorating his vision from moving so quickly.

“Um, your face is kind of red.” observes Mark, probing a finger at Yukhei’s forehead lightly. 

“I feel fine.” answers Yukhei quickly, blinking rapidly. 

“I think you should rest for a bit longer. We still have time for our study date, if you’re worried about that.” says Mark offhandedly, glacing at the clock on the wall.

“So it’s a study date, huh?” parrots Yukhei cheekily.

“What? I said study session.” argues Mark, a soft pink flush highlighting his cheeks.

“I’m a little dazed but my hearing’s fine, Mark.” simpers Yukhei, wriggling his legs even as he lies on the carpet. “You said study date.”

“S-shut up!” whines Mark, poking at Yukhei’s bruised forehead. 

“Ack!"

Mark lifts his hands to gently shift Yukhei’s head back into the centre of his lap. “Anyway, stay still!”

Preening under the attention, Yukhei closes his eyes and enjoys the feeling of Mark’s cool hands on his face. 

“This is nice.” comments Yukhei, continuing once Mark hums in agreement. “Usually it’s the other way around. You’re always resting your head on me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” apologises Mark quietly, “I didn’t realise I did it so often.”

“No, no! It’s okay. I mean,” stutters out Yukhei, his long limbs wiggling about again as he tries to explain. “It’s good. I like it when you do that.”

“Oh.” says Mark shyly, looking like he wants to run away and hide but he can’t because Yukhei is still on his lap so Mark settles for covering his face with his hands.

Emboldened by Mark’s flustered response, Yukhei adds on, sincerely.

“I like it when you lean on me."

  
  
  


_Because I like you._

**Author's Note:**

> this is a low-quality cute high-school crush lumark fic because they act like shy teenagers in skinny love and lucas keeps looking like he is too shy to approach mark properly and it is giving me feels ;~;
> 
> also i mainly listened to pentagon’s shine while writing this laskdjfls it fits lucas in this fic so well BIG UWU
> 
> anyway lumark shipping culture is dying every time mark rests his head on lucas’ shoulder  
> come cry with me on twitter [@neocheckmark](https://twitter.com/neocheckmark)


End file.
